PC Says to Mac: Yeah, well, I'm CHEAP!

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Whenever a Mac article or news item goes up on the site there’s always a ton of readers who point out the price premium of Macs over PCs, and declaring no matter what they put in there, it’s never going to be worth the “Apple Tax” you pay. The latest Microsoft ad has finally gone and pointed out the price difference between a PC and a Apple computer.

We were thinking the other day that the Mac versus PC ads had calmed down as of late. Nothing new to really report from either company, despite the fact that both are now producing the “we’re better than you!” television adverts. That was until today.

The new PC ad is targeting the fact that no one has spare cash lying around these days. It centers on Lauren, a twenty-something who’s looking for a laptop with a 17-inch screen priced at under a thousand dollars.

Microsoft says if she finds it, she can have it. Surprise, surprise, she has no luck at the Apple store (and jokes, “I guess I’m not cool enough to own a Mac!”) and finally settles on a 17-inch notebook from HP, which sets her back $699.

What puzzles us is why they had her visit the Apple store first and the only reason she didn’t buy one was that she’d have to double her budget (they only had one notebook for under $1,000 and it was a 13-inch MacBook). Isn’t that sort of like saying, “Sure, they all WANT one of your computers, but it’s just our luck they can’t afford your prices!”

Check out the video here.

Jane McEntegart
143 Comments Comment from the forums
  • tjhva
    Why is that puzzling? It's not uncommon for people to shop and look at all products, even those out of their budget, to make an informed choice.
    Reply
  • theJ
    Mac has made a butt-load making all the claims about the bugs and issues with Windows. While there are quite a few annoying issues with Vista and even XP, it's nothing an experienced user can't deal with.

    There's nothing wrong with MS boasting about their price differences. It will draw a few people back to the PC market i'm sure. I can't watch the video right now since i'm at work, but i'm betting they only talk about price, not bang for your buck. That's what MS should really advertise. You can get a similar quality product for 1/2 to 2/3 the price of a Mac. Now that's a selling point.
    Reply
  • Spanky Deluxe
    Apple tax, my arse. You hardly pay any more for equivalent specs from an Apple product. Yes you do usually pay a little more but for that money you get better build quality and the ability to run a rather nice OS. Sure you can get far *cheaper* machines but they usually are filled with junk components so as to bring the price down. I admire the fact that Apple don't pump out countless machines covering every price bracket, resorting to some machines with woefully underpowered processors etc.
    This idea from Microsoft does have an impact. When I started university, loads of people got their new Windows laptops and desktops - normal people, not enthusiasts. They then quickly learnt to hate their computers due to the terrible celeron processors, insanely small amounts of RAM and terrible build quality. Nearly all of the people I know that bought cheapo 'entry level' Windows computers have now actually switched to 'entry level' Apple computers. They realise they're paying a fair bit more but they also realise that they get a hell of a lot more in return. The "PCs are cheap" argument is a very short sighted thing in my opinion.
    Reply
  • JMcEntegart
    tjhvaWhy is that puzzling? It's not uncommon for people to shop and look at all products, even those out of their budget, to make an informed choice.
    I just thought that it was weird they put Apple first. Like a Mac would automatically be everyone's first choice.
    Reply
  • Marcus Yam
    The ad does seem like it's pushing hardware, which is somewhat puzzling given that Microsoft doesn't make any PCs. And even then, Macs these days are able to natively run Windows, so Microsoft should have even less of an opinion there.

    But it still remains that Microsoft makes its money from Windows licenses sold to its PC OEM partners, so this commercial is probably here just to say, "Hey guys, we're cheering for you and your PC sales!"
    Reply
  • theuerkorn
    Agree on the sentiment, but it's always been one of the major reasons to go PC and spend less money. I don't think many cash tight buyers are picking up on the "yeah, would really like a Mac" undertone. However for many it might create an image to not even look at the Mac store since they're assumed to be out of reach. (Kinda like Wal-Mart which is assumed to be the cheapest, while Target often has better prices. Nevertheless, budget shoppers to a large degree go to Mal-Mart first.)
    Reply
  • bin1127
    i would buy pc simply cause the mouse have more than one button. and the apple tax.
    Reply
  • americanbrian
    Spanky...

    I bought an entry level laptop for writing my dissertation on the move. It was pretty crappy as it arrived but even then buying something and upgrading it yourself was cheaper.

    I got an extra stick of ram on ebay and the same for the processor.

    This is going back a while but I now have that same laptop 3.5 years on and overclock the crap out of it and it still does everything I need it to. It's a toshiba and I have to say I am impressed with its quality.

    You just don't get that with apple. A PC that can grow with you. In fact they purposely build it in a way which makes doing the slightest upgrade or repair difficult.

    I don't hate macs but I will most likely never buy one. It is a fashion thing. I like to make my own not buy into someone elses.
    Reply
  • JimmiG
    Yes you do usually pay a little more but for that money you get better build quality and the ability to run a rather nice OS.

    There are a lot of high quality PC laptops available for under $1000, and Win7 is more than "rather nice". Nicer than OSX some might argue. Ever heard of the company "Quanta Computer"? They build Apple's computers...and Dell's...and Gateway, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo etc. etc. Apple doesn't build their own systems.

    Sure you can get far *cheaper* machines but they usually are filled with junk components so as to bring the price down.

    The actual components are exactly the same - Intel CPU, Nvidia graphics and so on. Granted, the chassis are rather nice, but the $999 Macbook comes in a cheap plastic shell, yet only has a 120GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM. $999 buys you a much nicer PC than that. The aluminum body and extra 40GB of hard drive space costs you an additional $300 - 50% of the cost of a fully featured PC laptop.


    I admire the fact that Apple don't pump out countless machines covering every price bracket, resorting to some machines with woefully underpowered processors etc.

    You need to read up on some specs. This might have been true several years ago when RAM was very expensive, but not anymore. Only the very cheapest systems come with Celeron processors, the others come with C2D 2 GHz and faster CPUs just like the Macbook. Entry-level PC notebooks typically come with 2GB of RAM while mid-range systems come with 4GB. Even Apple's $1999 Macbook Pro only comes with 2GB.
    Reply
  • Pyroflea
    As mentioned above, Microsoft doesn't make Hardware, but as of recently Apple has been sub-contracting their hardware off to other companies. Also as mentioned above, they would boast their performance-price ratio; a PC of similar quality is much cheaper than a Mac (oh, and not a Mac).
    Reply